Nowadays, most people go to college in America to get a better job. That’s why many colleges are adding more and more narrow majors each year to persuade these people to come to their college, with names like sustainability, homeland security, or gaming. But The Chronicle points out why a career-oriented major may not be the best choice when it comes to going to college.
A recent study has found that traditional arts-and-sciences majors (English, mathematics,and biology, etc.) have fallen from almost 50% in 1968 to only 26% in 2010. The most popular major nowadays is business. The problem with these vocationally aimed majors is that many graduates of them are not finding jobs. This is for many reasons including a glut of degrees in the market, and the applicants not possessing useful business skills.
Almost any job in the US nowadays requires at least a bachelor’s degree to even be considered. Because of this, many 4-year colleges have become de-facto job training centers. Ones that leave students knowledgeable in a very particular field, but lacking the ability to innovate or communicate well.
These are the kinds of qualities that businesses are looking for, because you are not just hired to do a job, but to also generate ideas to help the company. A career-oriented major may not be the best choice in this circumstance because you lack the basic knowledge to synthesize an idea.
Take journalism, for example. Many schools have a journalism program, some of which are very highly regarded. But a program of only journalism classes leaves students lacking in knowledge about history, English, and other liberal arts topics that make reporters’ writing so rich with detail.
Being a journalism student, I have encountered the issue of not having enough liberal arts knowledge to be able to really investigate something as it connects to our past. Now if you made it that you had to combine a journalism major with a liberal arts major, such as English or history, the program would be much better and would churn out students who had a higher chance of being hired.
If you’re really passionate about a career, major in that career, but also major in a liberal art, it will make you a much more suited candidate for a job when you graduate.
You could also major in a liberal art and do internships over the summer or a semester in the field that interests you, as this would also set you apart. So choosing a career-oriented major may not be the best choice, at least without a basis in the liberal arts.
While I do believe in a need for a wide knowledge base, I do believe that focusing in a particular area of study may prove to be more beneficial for a student. I understand the point you are trying to make, but I would like to point out something. If a student majors in, let’s say biology, then he or she is passionate about that area of study. That student will put the effort into gaining and applying the knowledge obtained in the courses with in that field. However, if required to take classes to “expand one’s horizon”, that student will likely put far less effort in a history class. When it comes down to employment, companies want employees who are experts in the field they are hired in, rather than a Jack-Of-All-Trades. While the idea of having everyone in higher education know everything there is to know sounds great, it simply is not effective or efficient in forcing students to attempt to reach such level of performance.
Yes, I agree with prince’s point of view.
Hi
i somehow don’t agree with your point of view.
though you clearly stated that, this may not be the best choice, the reason for that could be is, the education system is now facing a transition phase and more liberal path of knowledge where you can study for job or may be just for your interest.
You have both the options open for you. As i said, education system is in transition so, may be at this point they have not included all the required subjects but i believe as the industry demands, these will be included as and when required. You can say it similar to the way vocation studies came into being because of requirement of industry, similarly the course curriculum will improve with time.
Its like we system has caught the upper end of the ladder and trying to achieve this, rather than starting from bottom and scratching your head for each and every thing. And as far as innovation is considered, firstly innovation is the progeny of requirement, and what we are looking here is requirement. Secondly, not everyone is capable and interested enough to innovate. Only being interested in understanding the things and enjoys it will think of other ideas, not the ones who are barely living to earn and thus spend those earning and have no interest in the questions “HOW, WHY”.